Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a display panel and a method of driving the display panel. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a display panel improving the display quality and reliability and a method of driving the display panel.
Discussion of the Background
Generally, a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) apparatus includes a first substrate including a pixel electrode, a second substrate including a common electrode and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first and second substrate. An electric field is generated by voltages applied to the pixel electrode and the common electrode. By adjusting an intensity of the electric field, a transmittance of a light passing through the liquid crystal layer may be adjusted so that a desired image may be displayed.
In a vertical alignment type LCD apparatus, a unit pixel of a display panel is divided into a high pixel, which has a high relative brightness, and a low pixel, which has a relatively lower brightness, to improve a side visibility.
In a conventional vertical alignment type LCD apparatus, a data voltage is applied to the high pixel and a data voltage decreased by a storage voltage is applied to the low pixel. Thus, the low pixel may not display a maximum grayscale so that a light transmittance of the display panel may decrease and a response time of the display panel may increase.
In addition, when a difference between the data voltage and the storage voltage increases, the data voltage applied to the low pixel dramatically decreases so that a light transmittance of the display panel in a high grayscale area is further decreased.
Furthermore, when the display panel is driven in a voltage inversion driving method, the single storage voltage is used for a positive polarity and a negative polarity. Due to a difference of characteristics of a switching element according to polarities, a display defect such as a flicker and an afterimage may be generated and a reliability of the switching element may decrease.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form any part of the prior art.